IATA Destination Geography

Today’s travelers are better informed about geography. They expect their travel consultant to have more information and knowledge about travel geography than they do. Continually learning as much as possible about geography to stay current is probably the most important investment for travel professionals. By studying this course you will gain confidence in your ability to sell destinations, answer common questions asked by travel customers and provide valuable advice that customers are willing to pay for.

Objectives

A friendly Avatar guides you through this e-course and helps you learn about:

• A description of 12 basic types of leisure travellers
• Characteristics of human populations on all continents including a model of the “World Village”
• The world’s major mountains, oceans, seas, rivers and other bodies of water that attract visitors
• Distinguishing between the terms “weather” and “climate” and their impact on destinations
• How climate is affected by latitude, altitude, winds and proximity to water
• A review of the 15 top countries visited by international travelers, highlighting practical country information and niche attractions and activities in a downloadable workbook

Key topics

• Geography and the Travel Sales Process
• Destination Geography and the Leisure Traveler
• The World’s Continents
• Human Population and the “World Village”
• Major Natural Geographical Features
• The Effect of Climate on Travel
• Major World Tourist Destinations and Attractions

Course format

This e-course requires approximately 20 hours of study to be completed in 6 months from the purchase date (enrollment validity). After the enrollment validity expires, the users will not have access to the course content and will not be able to take the exam. Student performance will be based on an examination.

Exam information

• Non-supervised online-based exam
• Exam can be taken any time at your convenience.
• You will be given 2 hours to complete 60 multiple choice questions
• Passing grade is 70% correct answers.
• You will be given 2 attempts to successfully complete the final exam.

Table of contents

• Advanced Geography in Marketing and Selling Travel
• Geography and the travel sales process
• Destination geography and the leisure traveler
• The World’s Continents and Human Diversity
• The world’s continents
• Human population and the world village
• Major Natural Geographical Features
• The world’s oceans
• Seas, rivers and other bodies of water
• Major world mountains
• The Effect of Climate on Travel
• Introduction to climate
• The effects of latitude, altitude, winds and water on climate
• Major World Tourist Destinations and Attractions
• The top 40 world destinations by international arrivals
• Selected world-wide tourist destinations

• Students in tourism Leisure and corporate travel agents
• Tour operators and guides
• Event and meeting managers
• Corporate travel managers

Self-study

The Covid period has taught us how comfortable it can be to work from home and we are happy to build on this momentum. So no travelling, taking leave or endless evenings attending classes: the IATA course is offered to you completely online. This allows you to learn the course at your own pace and rhythm, wherever and whenever you want. No group lessons are organised, either physically or online. For any practical questions, you can of course always contact us.  Good to know: the courses are very clearly structured, which makes self-study much easier. After each theoretical chapter, you immediately get the chance to put this into practice by simulating your chosen GDS. All learning material is described in great detail and each chapter ends with numerous repetitions.

Start

You start whenever you wish and choose your own exam time. Note: from the moment you are enrolled, you have one year for all this. Keep that deadline in mind!

Exam

IATA provides 6 exam moments per year specifically: in January, March, May, July, September and November. Usually, the exam is scheduled in the last week of these months and always takes place digitally. This can be done at our Mechelen campus or from home.

Cost price

The cost price varies per course. Under 'how to register' you will find the link to register online. When you do this, you will get the overview of the prices of the different courses.
Thomas More students and Thomas More alumni (max 2 years after graduation) enjoy a discount. This has already been taken into account in the registration link.  Each time, you can opt for an e-book or for a printed version, in which case shipping costs will be charged. The price also includes 2 exam moments each time.